I dont really think society really is declining rather than having its ups and downs, and now its just going dow, just wait for it to go back up Im pretty sure there were worst years than this one.
I dont really think society really is declining rather than having its ups and downs, and now its just going dow, just wait for it to go back up Im pretty sure there were worst years than this one.
Like the 1950s. And the Great Depression. In the 50s, black people were treated like sh*t. (Remember the Little Rock Nine? For those of you who don't know them, I can give you a small history lesson.) And as we all know, the Depression was a far worse time in every way possible.
Today's society is just fine. There will always be idiots, and there will always be "evildoers". There're just more ways of showing idiocy and evil with the new technology that's constantly evolving. Old people will always be blaming "those dang kids and their drugs", but they forget the generation before them saying the same thing. Yeah, if you really want to look deep, society is bad, but there's a lot of good people out there. You lot are just pessimists.
If we can continue this thread without reference to the "dear departed" I'm happy to have it open for posting again...if any of his little natterings remain do flag them up so we can continue our Orwellian work or removing him from history...
Anyways, where were we? One thing is that people today rely TOO MUCH on what the news, TV, and movies say about everything. Some people today act like they do not think for themselves. I rarely watch movies and TV, and I watch the news even less.
Oh, and half the music in our society today sucks too. I found a link to a video that plays the worst music ever made. It makes Soulja Boy look good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TH5ibABP4U
I don't know for sure if it's worse but, since I started checking out the news more (big reason is the wii news channel) I've noticed alot of terrible things going on in the world. There's probably been both good and bad things about times in the past, just like today. One thing that happens nowadays is school shootings. That seems to be a new thing. Also it seems to me that there are some horrifying or stupid things that some parents do to their kids or vice versa. There's parents killing kids, kids killing parents. I've even heard of a parent bring their kid to a fight. I think I might have even read/heard about them being involved in crime with them.
How should I expand my interests to other areas? No one has to answer, I'm just expressing my thoughts
One thing I've started doing as I've gotten older is revisiting things I enjoyed when I was younger, but with a more serious mind. This is mainly palaeontology and evolutionary biology, and I've found it quite rewarding given there's a lot more serious literature readable by the layperson than there was when I was a dinosaur fan as a child.
Again, the exceptions are what makes the news, not the every day decent goings on. But everyone's got a camera and a video recorder built into their cell phones to capture every stupid antic, encouraged by shows like Jackass and [INSERT "REALITY" SHOW HERE]. And the Internet gives them an outlet to post them for all to see. And the ubiquity of these random acts of mayhem, violence and other morally questionable actions - not just on the 'Net but in the movies, music, television, and even video "games" (GTA... really? A game in which you perpetrate the titular felony offense, and even more egregious capital offences?) has led to society's increased tolerance of it, because tolerating it is more "socially acceptable" than criticizing or diminiscrating (not always a bad word!) against it. And, as night leads to day, an increase in tolerance leads to an increase in the products which push its limits. So I do think we're a touch worse off than we once were, but not as bad as the media would have you believe.
EDIT: @Sean, excellent strategy! I kept many texts and notebooks from elementary school through college, and using them as a sort of outline, I like to explore the information that's been revealed on those subjects in the (too many) years since. And yeah, dinosaurs still rock.
Part of the problem is people tend to romanticize the past. Ever see those people who say they wish America today were more like the 1950's? That sure was a great time. IF you were a straight white Christian male. Not such a good time for gays, blacks and minorities, was it? Society has always been a sick little puppy in one way or another, and as Joe Diddley showed in those quotes in his posts near the beginning of this thread, there have always been people wringing their hands and declaring the end is at hand.
By the way, those claiming today's music is a sign of the decline is utter nonsense. You do realize that was said about Beethoven, Elvis and just about everyone else, right?
By the way, those claiming today's music is a sign of the decline is utter nonsense. You do realize that was said about Beethoven, Elvis and just about everyone else, right?
I'm not sure it's nonsense, but it does illustrate perfectly my point that an increase in tolerance leads to an increase in the products which push its limits. And ummm... Beethoven? I don't believe his music was criticized for inciting violence, hatred, misogyny , etc.
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